JOHN FITZGERALD KENNEDY 1917 – 1963

John Kennedy’s father, Joseph Kennedy, was a businessman who made a huge for­tune. Joseph Kennedy had nine children (John was the second oldest) and he gave each of them a million dollars when they became 21. He also planned what his son should do. Joseph Kennedy, Jr*., the old­est boy, was to be the family politican.

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*Jr. - junior

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John - his family called him Jack-was to be a writer and teacher. He went to Harvard*.

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*Harvard University — the oldest educational institution in the USA, founded 1636 at New Towne (later Cambridge) Massachusetts, named after John Harvard (1607-1638) who bequeathed half his estate and his library to it.

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When World War II began, John Kennedy joined the navy. He was the skipper of a PT boat* in the south Pacific.

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*PT boat — a small fast boat used by US armed forces, espe­cially during the Second World War.

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During a night battle a Japanese destroyer rammed into his small boat, cutting it in half. Two men were killed and Kennedy’s back was badly hurt. Despite his own in­jury, Kennedy swam for hours, towing an­other man even more badly hurt to a nearly island.

Joseph Kennedy Jr, the brother who had planned to go into politics, was killed dur­ing the war. So the family decided that John would take his place. He ran for Congress from Massachusetts-and the whole family pitched in to help. His brothers and sisters made speeches. They gave teas and invited thousands of people. They made thousands of telephone calls.

Kennedy was elected easily. He served three terms in the House of Representatives. Then he was elected to the Senate.

The war time injury to Kennedy’s back was still bothering him and he had to have an operation. While he was getting well he wrote a book called Profiles in Courage about United States senators who had risked their careers to fight for things they believed in. It won a price for the best American histo­ry book of that year.

From the first, Kennedy had planned to run for President. In 1956, he tried for the Dem­ocratic vice presidential nomination but lost. Right away he started working toward the next election. As usual, his whole family helped. Since they were all wealthy, money was no problem. They travelled back and forth across the country. They made speech­es and talked with politicians. John Kennedy himself worked harder of all. And when the Democratic Convention met, he was nomi­nated for President on the find ballot.

Kennedy was 43 years old. Many people thought he did not have enough experience. If elected, he would also be the first Catho­lic President. Some people did not like that. But for the first time during a presidential campaign the candidates, Kennedy and Ri­chard Nixon*, debated with each other on television.

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*Nixon, Richard M(ilhous) (1913-1994) — 37th president of the USA, 1969-1974, a Republican.

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That was a big help to Kennedy. He not only was handsome but had great personal charm, he was also smart. He stud­ied hard and had his facts ready. He spoke well and did not get flustered.

The election was one of the closest in histo­ry, but Kennedy won.

As President, Kennedy brought many teach­ers, writers, and scientists into the govern­ment. Many of them worked for less money than they had made before. But they were willing to do their job because they admired Kennedy. They believed in the things he wanted to do.

President Kennedy established the Peace Corps* to help under developed countries.

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*Peace Corps — US organisation of trained men and women, established by President Kennedy 1961. The Peace Corps pro­vides skilled volunteer workers for Third World countries, especially in the fields of teaching, agriculture, and health for a period of two years.

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He worked hard for new civil rights laws. He wanted to improve US relations with Latin America. Congress, however, did not approve of most of Kennedy’s plans.

Kennedy hoped the USA could have more friendly relations with the Soviet Union. At first, however, things got worse instead of better. Cuba, under Fidel Castro*, had already turned Communist.

Kennedy supported an unsuccessful invasion of Cuba by anti-Castro Cubans and Americans on April 17, 1961. This was called the Bay of Pigs Invasion*.

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*Bayof Pigs Invasion — inlet on the south coast of Cuba. It was site of an unsuccessful invasion attempt by 1,500 US-spon­sored Cuban exiles 17-20 April 1961.

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It hurt American prestige in Latin America and threatened American-Soviet relation as well.

In October 1962, Kennedy learned that the Russians were sending nuclear missiles to Cuba. This became known as the Cuban Missile Crisis. Americans became especial­ly alarmed because Cuba was so close —only 90 miles from Florida. With atomic war­heads in Cuba the Soviet Union destroy cit­ies all across the U.S.

Kennedy acted promptly. He ordered the navy to blockade Cuba so no more Russian ships could enter. He sent planes and sol­diers to Florida to be ready to invade Cuba if necessary. On television he told the Amer­ican people what had happened. He explained the grave danger of war. He asked the Rus­sian leader, Nikita Khrushchev*, “to half and eliminate this: threat to world peace.”